Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Should cohousers rebuild (or redesign) the wheel

[Jan (jan]

> it is also very hard to tell a fellow cohouser, please don't do that -- 
> you don't know now and it will look awful. Or it will cost us more to
> fix what you broke when you tried to fix it.

It may be hard, but I'm gonna try again.

Having lived in cohousing for 6 years, there is one big thing I'd have done
differently at the start.

I would have designed everything to be low maintenance.

Our physical plant is not high maintenance, don't get me wrong.  We have
fairly typical condo construction, with energy-saving features as well.
Now, however, the typical American condo looks like a set of shackles to me.

Living in cohousing puts me in contact with many ideas.  I want to do more.
I want to be out there making a difference.  However, living here costs so
much that I have little energy left to do these things.  I have a whopping
big mortgage that feels like a ball and chain, tying me to a job that saps
my energy.

Furthermore, keeping the place up costs me energy too.  To me, time = energy
= money, to a good approximation.  If you maintain it yourself, that is
time.  If you pay someone else to maintain it, that is money.  The only
wiggle room left is to find the cheapest way to maintain it, and no, doing
it all yourself is not always the cheapest way.  Those ignorant mistakes can
add up to big bucks, not to mention headaches.

Do you want to end up spending a lot of your energy maintaining your
physical plant?  Think carefully about it, please.

Jan
Sunward
Ann Arbor, MI

PS:  Are there any cohousing trailer parks?